Ivy says:
First, thank you to all of you who offered condolences on the loss of my grandmother. We are all finally beginning to get somewhat back to normal. One of the reasons we have been able to do so is thanks to the generosity of friends and our church family bringing food.
I had no idea there was so much to deal with when you lose a family member, but there truly is a lot involved. The last thing you want to deal with is the normal stuff like making dinner and cleaning house. It would be easy to go out to dinner for every meal, but since the other surprising thing about losing a family member is the fact that it is quite expensive (not just the funeral expenses, but unexpected expenses like having to buy gas several times because you’re driving all over creation dealing with things, and funeral wardrobes for the kids, since most kids aren’t flush with black dressy clothing), going out to eat for every meal is not a good idea.
So when offers of food started coming and our church’s “Angels” group starting bringing food, we took up all offers. This helped enormously. Someone brought a roast for the funeral- one of the best ideas EVER- we served it at the post-funeral wake, later made it into roast beef sandwiches for dinner, and finally made it into meat filling for different sandwiches.
Another handy thing given was a mix of tuna salad and chicken salad sandwiches. These were also served at the wake, it was also great afterward because if we were hungry, I could just reach into the fridge and grab a sandwich. Cooking is the last thing on my mind under stress. Some of these sandwiches were packed in a cooler for an unexpected road trip when we had to drive my uncle back to Muncie, Indiana.
Food is often a welcome gift both during times of trouble and joy (like a new baby, etc). In the past we have been thankful to receive chili, spaghetti sauce (freezes amazingly and is quite inexpensive to make), corn casserole (filling and tasty for the vegetarians in the group), and hash brown casserole (amazingly good and freezes well).
What do you find works well to bring to families?
Random Posts
Loading…
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I have an easy chicken & pasta salad that I like to make in the summer. It makes a ton, can easily be made veg, and is filling and tasty.
Basically, I take about 4 boneless skinless breasts worth of chicken, in bite sized pieces. Frozen peas, chopped celery, a little onion, maybe a little chopped green pepper if I’m feeling zany, and a box of shells or rotini.
Cook the chicken and the pasta, throw in everything else (throw the peas in about 2 mins. before the pasta is done to thaw). Strain the pasta under cold water. Then add everything else and enough ranch dressing to coat it. Refrigerate.
Easy peasy.
I’m glad to hear you’re holding up.
I usually take cheese lasagnas in disposable pans, either cooked or frozen.
My standby, though, is paper cups, paper plates, plasticware, paper towels and toilet paper. It’s been my experience that using disposables removes one more thing to be dealt with, and lots of visitors means you need more TP.
We generally take a hot chicken salad casserole and/or banana pudding. Sometimes a plate of deviled eggs.
If I’m not actually signed up and organized to bring a meal, I take a loaf of homemade bread. I make bread fairly often and usually have a loaf or two in the freezer. It’s always special, but it’s also very practical because it can be re-frozen if it’s somehow not needed.
One handy thing I like to do in the winter is take a pot of soup – any kind – but dump it in their kettle and take my kettle back home with me. When I received meals/food, I found that returning containers or piling up those “disposables” on kitchen counters can be a pain.
One of the best things brought to the house when my dad died, a basket filled with snack foods. It had hard candy, mini chocolate bars, packages of crackers, pretzels and a bunch of other things. We had a houseful of people, but no one really felt like eating meals. Everyone nibbled on what they wanted throughout the day.